PASCAGOULA, Mississippi - There's no doubt that Jackson County will feel the effects of sequestration, U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker said during a Gulf Coast Business Council membership meeting this afternoon.

On Tuesday, Wicker spent the day on the coast, looking at spaces where he might relocate his Gulfport office, lunching with Gulfport community leaders and touring a defense manufacturing plant in Biloxi before heading to Jackson County for the council meeting.

Wicker spoke on a variety of topics, including sequestration, which he said "is dangerous for national defense because we've already cut national defense several years back by half a trillion dollars."

Cuts there are "particularly harmful when it comes to defense manufacturing," he said. "We do a lot of defense manufacturing in Jackson County ... and in Mississippi, and I wish we would find the savings elsewhere."

During a question-and-answer session, Ocean Springs Mayor Connie Moran asked if the Gulf Islands National Seashore would be affected by sequestration.

Wicker said since it's part of the National Park Service, "I wouldn't doubt it."

Wicker also spent some time talking about the Water Resources Development Act, which affects both ports and inland waterways.

The act, which Wicker calls "a true example of bipartisanship" because of support from Environment and Public Works Committee majority chairman Barbara Boxer and minority ranking member David Vitter, provides for conservation and development of water resources.

"I think we have a better opportunity for upgrades and maintenance using the harbor trust fund," Wicker said, "and the streamlining of regulations."

Republicans and Democrats agree that environmental rules should be complied with, Wicker said, but the process shouldn't take 3 to 5 years.

"I view it as a jobs bill," Wicker said. "Certainly we know all about that in Pascagoula with the port here and in Harrison County with the state port there."

The bill, which is now before the Senate floor, says that 100 percent of all trust fund money should go toward harbor maintenance, as opposed to 60 percent.

"It's only fair," Wicker said.

The senator said he does not support the Senate budget, but he does support Paul Ryan's House budget because it balances in 10 years, while the Senate version would never balance.

The Ryan budget also does not raise taxes, Wicker said, while the Senate budget would raise taxes by $1 trillion over 10 years.

There were, however, 3 helpful amendments passed in the Senate budget, he said.

One makes it more difficult for legislators to approve unfunded mandates that affect local governments, he said, and another amendment repeals the portion of Obamacare that would impose taxes on medical devices "because a big tax will stifle research innovation."